According to Policy Matters Ohio, a nonpartisan policy research institute focusing on the state, Ohio ranks 45th in the nation for college affordability. This means that there are only five other states where college costs are more expensive.

This puts Ohio youth at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to finding affordable college options close to home.

The average yearly tuition for a public university in our state is almost $10,000, with branches and community colleges around half that (a little more for branches and a little less for community colleges.) But, with more than a quarter of the state population earning less that $25,000 a year, and the median income hovering just over $50,000, that still puts college out of reach of many bright, talented youth who just can’t afford the costs.

A proposed bill in the Ohio Senate, SB 5, would seek to improve access to education by increasing the tax deduction that parents can make for funds in a college savings account from $2,000 to $10,000.

However this doesn’t address the underlying issue; that the families most impacted by rising college costs simply can’t afford to put back the amount of money needed to pay for their children’s college educations.

While these proposed tax breaks would be a boon to more well-to-do families who can afford to save for education, families living in that $25,000 to $50,000 range often don’t have the extra money to put back.

The Senate is right to be considering ways to improve access to higher education for residents of the state. But tax cuts for those who are already in a better position to send their children to college is not the best way to guarantee more kids go to school. In fact, increasing the range of the tax break takes tax dollars from the state that could be used to increase access for the state’s poorer students.

There need to be other options on the table, that don’t favor the wealthy at the expense of the poor.